Today in 1988, After forty-nine weeks on the US album chart, ‘Hysteria’ by Def Leppard went to the No.1 position. The success of the album’s fourth single, “Pour Some Sugar on Me” would propel the album to the top of the US Billboard 200 albums chart nearly a year after its release.

The album’s goal, set out by album producer Mutt Lange, was to be a rock version of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, in that every track was a potential hit single.

Hysteria went on to dominate album charts around the world for three years. The album currently sits as the 51st best selling album of all time in the US. It spent 96 weeks in the US top 40, a record for the 1980’s. It ties with Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A.

During their spring, 2013 residency at The Joint in Las Vegas, Def Leppard performed the album in its entirety, from start to finish. This was followed up with a live album Viva! Hysteria recorded during the residency and released in October 2013, which includes all of Hysteria being played live.